Rick Brassington – a recognised authority on hydrogeology, winner of the Whitaker Medal, and author of various textbooks on the subject – has been a long-term opponent of Aggregate Industries’ plans for Straitgate Farm, warning that any quarrying would permanently damage the many surrounding water supplies.
His arguments were no doubt instrumental in persuading Devon County Councillors to turn down Aggregate Industries’ planning application for the site on 1 December 2021.
However, at the Public Inquiry in October 2022, in relation to one of the main areas of contention – groundwater, and the mechanism for water movement through the unsaturated zone, put forward by Rick and supported by the Council’s expert hydrogeologist, Paul Thomson, as well as much scientific literature – the Planning Inspectors thought they knew best:
23. ...we are not persuaded that piston flow is the dominant flow mechanism in the BSPB or at the site... 27. ...we prefer the appellant’s model of rapid infiltration...
Rick Brassington has now produced the Fifth Edition of Field Hydrogeology – his successful "Pocket-sized field workbook for students studying hydrogeology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels", published by Wiley.
The Fifth Edition addresses some new topics, including – and directly relevant to the arguments at Straitgate – "Complicated flow rates through the unsaturated zone".
In the Preface to this Edition, Rick writes:
There were a number of small changes [in this edition] but the biggest new addition covers flow through the vadose [unsaturated] zone. This came about when I failed to explain this to intelligent people who had no knowledge of geology who decided that they would rather accept a simple picture of rapid recharge flow with the unrealistically high value for the hydraulic conductivity in the vadose zone rather than the complex system that nature has provided for us. You will have to read it to see what I mean; it is now at the end of Chapter 3.
We recommend Rick’s book to any budding hydrogeologists, and Planning Inspectors wanting to find out about the real world.
